This application for a methodological R21 builds upon the interest of examining potential approaches to using existing public use secondary data for the study of the Asian Pacific Islander racial category previously defined by the U.S. Census. With the exception of census data, and the most recent waves of the national health interview survey there are no nationally representative surveys that oversample for API populations. This application will examine these issues explicitly, measure potential biases and suggest potential alternatives for defining useful samples of APIs using existing secondary data This application has four primary goals: 1-To evaluate the efficacy of the statistical representation of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) populations in U.S. based samples and surveys. This will be accomplished by cataloguing and identifying sample sizes of major US surveys that report API populations and how these samples have been used in peer reviewed publications;2-To identify funded research studies which have examined API populations that are not currently in the public domain and seek to acquire these studies or, at a minimum, to document these studies and their sample designs;3-To distribute these new materials and data collections through the ICPSR data archive and its topical research groups, particularly the Minority Data Research Center, a centralized repository for data on minority populations in the public domain;and 4- To instruct researchers in the best practices of applying available API data collections in the research process. We will both provide reports and instructional materials as part of the MDRC website and we will host a five day workshop as part of the ICPSR Summer Program in Year 2 of the project. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This application will promote the examination of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) health by identifying and distributing data collections that focus on health determinants and related factors impacting these populations. The application will also organize and catalogue published health information on API's and their heterogeneous subpopulations. Finally, this application will promote and provide training in the use of API data in the promotion of health research